The wonder within! – Bhagavad Gita Verse 2.29

Now, Krishna talks about thee glory, uniqueness, mystery, subtility and rareness of Self-knowledge. This is called in Vedanta parlance as
Spiritual Knowledge or Paravidya.

Aas(h)charyavath pas(h)yathi kas(h)chidaenam aas(h)charyavas vadathi thathaiva chaanya:
Aas(h)charyavas(h)chainamanya: s(h)ruNothi s(h)ruthvaapyaena vaeda na chaiva kas(h)chith 2.29

One rare person knows this (Self) as a wonder. In the same way, another one speaks about (this Self) as a wonder. Another one hears of (this Self) as a wonder. Still, another never understands this (Self) inspite of hearing.

Atma is always a wonder (Aas(h)charyavath). When you understand atma, it is a wonder and, when you do not understand, it is a wonder to you, how anyone can understand it !

This wonder takes several forms. Atma is something never seen before , something that appears all of a sudden to one who has been taught by a guru, something that is striking. The student understands and looks at the atma as a wonder (Aas(h)charyavath pas(h)yathi).
Why? Because he or she now looks at himself or herself as a wonder.
When I suddenly discover that I am the whole and everything is centred on me, everything is me, it is definitely a wonder.

First, this reality of oneself seems to be an impossibility.
Then it becomes a vague possibility.
Finally, it is real, true !

We experience this atma all the time. Only because of the atma, do we experience the world. This atma is very evident as ananda in moments of joy when we discover ourselves to be full (purna).

But, still, when it is pointed out that we are that whole, we do not understand – which is another wonder (s(h)ruthvaapyaena vaeda na chaiva kas(h)chith

This verse explains why atma is so difficult to understand. This verse may also be interpreted in this manner. He that sees, hears and speaks of the Self is a wonderful man. Such a man is very rare. He is one among many thousands.
Thus the Self is very hard to understand.

Love,
Chithra.

 

Dear AC,
Let me be very frank - I wonder how you show so much of interest - wait for the Gita post & give an acknowledgement promptly.
For your lines

I think since i get caught up with day to day troubles and problems that I tend to overlook what is more important and to focus on the only important.

my explanation is, the Self is of unmanifested nature; our life always revolves in the field of manifested.So it is not to be wondered at, if some peeople hear about it with great surprise and others are not able to understand it !

Love,
Chithra.

 

Dear Sri,
Today's wonder to me is your coming to my sub-forum (after the atma post, remember?) and giving a very deep and profound reply to AC.
The Self
Although omnipresent, is found as the individual self
Although eternal, is found dying and being born.
As you rightly put it, we are forever concerned about what we do than what we are! We are more bothered only with the temporary, phenomenal phases of life.Everyone looks at Self from his own level of consciousness.
Thanks for your brilliant explanation with apt quotes, Sri !
Love,
Chithra.




quote=cheeniya;233875]Dear AC
You have raised a fascinating question:
Why is that we do not stay in the Atma awareness all the time? Is it because we are caught up in the worldly matters and tend to forget our real state? If that is the state one should be all the time why do we have to become a householder?
With Chithra Madam’s permission, I wish to dwell on this question at length.

Let me begin with a quotation of Eckhart, the famous German theologian:
“People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works."

Man is not only a body and psyche but also a spirit. The body exists always in time and the spirit is timeless. The psyche is an amphibious creature that associates itself generally with the body under the compelling belief that it can not exist without the body. But it is fully capable of identifying itself with the spirit and consequently with the changeless Godhead. The spirit is timeless and eternal but man is so made that his psyche finds it easier to identify itself with the body and its periodic forays into the realm of the spirit are very short-lived. We celebrate birthdays and wedding days, Valentine’s Day et al because of our psyche’s strong identification with the perishable body. Our fear of old age and death is also due to our psyche’s predominant association with the body.

Many theologians have condemned our time consciousness as a deterrent to the Ultimate Realisation. To quote Eckhart again,
“Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time. And not only time but temporalities, not only temporal things but temporal affections; not only temporal affections but the very taint and smell of time”
This is the reason why the famous Sufi mystic, Jalal-uddin Rumi, warns us that ‘Past and present veil god from our sight; Burn up both of them with fire’

All our spiritual exercises should enable our psyche to transcend time. All our material thoughts are caused by our psyche’s strong identification with the time-bound body. Even our form of worship of God by material means to achieve temporal ends is caused by this association of the psyche with time. But the psyche that associates itself with the spirit will worship God as, as Gnanis do, a formless, timeless Godhead.
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